Monday, March 9, 2015

Matteo Pagano is the owner-operator of Via Veneto Jazz, a Jazz record label that began operations in 1993. You can locate more information about Via Veneto’s background by visiting its website - http://www.viavenetojazz.it/index.html

Matteo’s work on behalf of Jazz and Jazz musicians is reminiscent of that of Ross Russell at Dial, Teddy Reig at Savoy [and later, Roulette Records], Orrin Keepnews at Riverside Records, Richard Bock at Pacific Jazz Records, Lester Koenig at Contemporary Records, Bob Weinstock of Prestige Records and, of course, Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff at Blue Note Records and Norman Granz at Verve, Norgran and Clef, to name some of the more prominent pioneers in documenting Jazz on records.

Matteo, along with these legendary, independent Jazz record producers, has given the music and the musicians support and exposure and, in Via Veneto Jazz’s case, helps bring the work of Italian Jazz musicians to a wider audience.

The process of making Jazz recordings must, to a large degree, be rewarding in and of itself because I doubt that Matteo makes much money from the sale of Jazz CD’s. As someone once said when asked: “How do you make a million dollars in Jazz?” “It’s easy,” he answered: “start with two million dollars!”

For Jazz labels such as Via Veneto Jazz, which is based in Rome, Italy, distribution can be a real issue, but Matteo has taken a number of steps to make his recordings more widely available.

His latest releases can be acquired through www.forcedexposure.com. You can also find his music at Amazon.com both as CD’s and Mp3 downloads and through Marco Valente online retail source - www.jazzos.com. With the Euro falling back to Earth in relation to the US dollar, buying CD’s from European detailers is not the pricey proposition it once was.

The editorial staff at JazzProfiles thought it might be fun to celebrate “Via Veneto Jazz Week” by posting a series of reviews of that label’s latest releases.

First up is bassist Rosario Bonaccorso’s Viaggiando [Via Veneto Jazz/Jando Music VVJ 098]. Bonaccorso is one of the “elder statesmen” in modern Italian Jazz circles having performed with drummer Roberto Gatto, pianist Dado Moroni, saxophonist Stefano DiBattista and Francesco Cafiso and trumpters Enrico Rava and Flavio Boltro.

In Italian, “viaggiare” can have any number of meanings from traveling, to journey or voyage, or to ride, to tour to make a trip - all based around the action of getting from point-to-point, place-to-place.

But inherent in the term in the idea that the flow of movement is the focal point: put another way, it is the journey itself the counts, not necessarily getting to the destination.

Traveling with friends makes the process all that more enjoyable and also helps the time of the journey pass more pleasurably.

In bassist Rosario Bonaccorso’s latest CD Jazz improvisation VIAGGIANDO [Via Veneto Jazz/Jando Music VVJ 098], he is joined by old and new traveling companions:

Roberto Taufic| Guitar

Fabrizio Bosso| Trumpet and Saxhorn

Javier Girotto| Soprano Sax, Baritone Sax, Quena and Moseño

The music on this CD is different because it reflects past Jazz traditions while, at the same time, incorporating influences from today’s World Music. Its universal and modern but at the same time it draws a heavy reliance on the traditional Afro-Cuban clave beat and the more recent Brazilian bossa nova beat which is a lighter version of the samba. The music swings but the time is less metronomic and more inferred through the use of Latin Jazz rhythms, but without the use of a Latin Jazz percussion.

The media release that accompanies the recording offered these comments about it:

“VIAGGIANDO is Rosario Bonaccorso’s latest CD, produced by Jando Music and Via Veneto Jazz. The innate strength and vigour of Rosario’s melodic writing, together with the striking form structure on which he has been working for years, make him widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative double bass players.

VIAGGIANDO, recorded with his new quartet, consists of 14 original compositions that propel listeners head-long on an incredible journey, subtly shifting from one continent to another, while drifting through emotions linked by the common thread of the “voyage”: an inspirational trigger that has always played a key role in the musical adventures of the double-bassist.

A deep introspection pervades Rosario Bonaccorso’s music, portraying a soul-searching autobiography that predominantly reveals his passions and inspirations - distant journeys into unknown lands, nature...the sea itself, love and contrasting emotions - that are the true heart of the album. There are also a few tracks where the musician sings for the first time: Storto, My Faith, Mon Frere ...a passion for singing, which, over the years, has made him recognizable thanks to his voice being perfectly and expressively symbiotic with his instrument.

Once again, he has chosen his travelling companions with acute sensitivity and awareness, to achieve an end result that is true to his inspiration - effective and beguiling. At his side, Fabrizio Bosso sustains the creative flow, as he intuitively chisels evocative melodic fragments with his trumpet, while Argentinian saxophonist Javier Girotto and Brazilian guitarist Roberto Taufic blend in seamlessly into the fabric, further flavouring this journey with the cultural sensitivity deriving from their homelands. A voyage that spans over the Mediterranean, America’s Jazz, Brazil, Argentina ... essential and pure ingredients that, under the guidance of Rosario Bonaccorso, give birth to a kaleidoscopic of emotions that only music can convey.”